Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The Beauty Of Booze: Alcohol Molecules As Art

above: Tequila, as seen when magnified 1000 times

Magnified up to 1000 times under a high tech laboratory microscope, images of various alcohol, mixed drinks and plain beverages like Cola and iced tea are sold as customizable fine art and prints by American company BevShots.

The images are made by first crystallizing the drink of choice on a lab slide. Using a standard light microscope with a camera attached, the light source is polarized and passed through the crystal. This creates the magnificent colors and patterns you see in the following images.

Below are some examples of the macro photos of alcohol molecules from some common liquors and mixed drinks.Liquor

The pictures were taken in Florida State University's chemistry department and are are licensed from Florida State University and Michael Davison, the research scientist, who, in 1992 discovered photographic microscopy.

above left: Michael Davidson, right; Lester Hutt

The man who keeps the party going is Lester Hutt, president of BevShots MicroArt, LLC. BevShots is the perfect blend of Hutt’s business and science background. While working on his graduate degree in chemistry from UC Berkeley, Hutt worked on NASA’s Mars probes searching for evidence of past life on the red planet. Apple, Inc. then called on him to be a part of history as they released their revolutionary new product, the iPod.

You can purchase the above images and more in various sizes starting at $19.99.Shop for them here.